I think they should have a funeral. It would be the most respectful and best thing to do. It's taken a long time to arrive at this point, 90 years after it happened, although it's been clear to sensible minds for many years there were never any survivors of that night.

But the story is not quite over. The original nine bodies were buried in Russia, but not as royalty, Sarandinaki said.In May, he and Coble will present the new results to officials of the Russian Orthodox Church."Hopefully, we will be able to convince the church [that these are the remains of the royal family], and at the end, the church will agree and finally give the family the decent and honorable burial they deserve," Sarandinaki said.

St. Petersburg, July 29, Interfax - The Association of the Romanov Family considers it untimely during the global economic crisis to spend money on reburying the remains of the children of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia - Crown Prince Alexey and Grand Princess Maria found recently outside Yekaterinburg in the so-called second burial site, Ivan Artsishevsky, a spokesman for the association, told journalists in St. Petersburg.

This is very sad news. I was hoping that the remains of Alexei and Maria were going to be burried soon. But, after the economic crisis ends, the bones will be burried. The Russian Gov't is more concerned about handling the economic crisis.

This is very sad news. I was hoping that the remains of Alexei and Maria were going to be burried soon. But, after the economic crisis ends, the bones will be burried. The Russian Gov't is more concerned about handling the economic crisis.

I fail,and refuse,to see how a hyped up crisis can get in the way of a funeral for pete's sake.
It is nonsense,over-sensitive to no avail poppycock.

Well, this is obviously going to cost a fair bit of money as a state event, if Russia honestly can't afford it then surely it's better to wait till they can re-bury with the dignity and ceremony the children deserve rather than bung 'em in with the rest one Sunday afternoon?

Well, this is obviously going to cost a fair bit of money as a state event, if Russia honestly can't afford it then surely it's better to wait till they can re-bury with the dignity and ceremony the children deserve rather than bung 'em in with the rest one Sunday afternoon?

They'll bung them with the rest IMO. I think, again IMO, they are trying to sweep this under the rug as soon as possible.

I fail,and refuse,to see how a hyped up crisis can get in the way of a funeral for pete's sake.
It is nonsense,over-sensitive to no avail poppycock.

But, the funeral will be very expensive.
In my opinion, I think it would be best to bury the remains of the children as soon as possible because the children deserve to have a proper burial along with the rest of the family. It's been over 90 years and it's time for them to give the children the resting place they've been waiting for 90 years. The economic crisis might take over four years to end, so that will still be a long time later.

I doubt such a long wait will be required. In all probability, the reburial will be organized long before 2013 - the 400 year anniversary of the House of Romanovs.

I believe it was thoughtful of the members of the Romanov Family Association to agree to wait (should it prove necessary) till the economic crisis was over. The reburial of the last 2 remaining members of the Imperial Family is important, but right now there are a lot of more important ways the money can be spent.

I hoped some new information about the reburial would be made yesterday, on 105th anniversary of Tsarevich Alexei's birth. However, even though some Russian news agencies did highlight the birthday, no new data about the reburial was made available.
We might be braced for a long wait, perhaps till 2013.

Wasn't Dagmar, from Denmark, returned to Russia recently to be buried next to her husband?

Couldn't the remaining children have been buried at the same time with their family?

Dagmars remains were returned to Saint Petersburg in 2005 in accordance with her wish to be interred next to her late husband, yes. And on 28 September 2006 her remains were interred next to her husband Alexander III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

MOSCOW - A relative of the murdered Russian royal family has called for the remains of two of the last tsar's children to be buried, the Izvestia newspaper reported on Thursday.
Nicholas Romanov, who heads a group of royal family members called the Romanov Family Association, criticized the delay in burying the remains of Grand Duchess Maria and Tsarevich Alexei, found in 2007.
"Among the problems that deeply worry me and all the Romanovs in our association, is the burial of the heir Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria," Romanov said in a statement published in the Izvestia daily.
"It's terrible that their remains are being stored somewhere," he said.
The bones of the two children, killed by Bolshevik agents in 1918 along with their father Tsar Nicholas II and the rest of his immediate family, are kept in a refrigerator in the city of Yekaterinburg, said prosecutor Vladimir Solovyov.

(note to mods: I tried not to repost the whole article, but it is necessary to post as much as possible because these links go down in a few months and the information is lost)

Moscow, June 16, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church urges not to hurry to officially confirm identification of remnants found in 2007 not far from Yekaterinburg, which, according to investigators, belong to Nicholas II's children.

"I believe that nothing makes us hurry today. Funerals will tempt us to think that we can draw a line under the affair. However, it's not true," head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told Interfax-Religion on Wednesday.

Commenting on the recent statement made by the Senior Criminalist of the Forensic Science Office at the Russian Prosecutor's Investigative Committee Vladimir Solovyov that the remains found in 2007 indeed belonged to Crown Prince Alexey and Grand Princess Mary, Fr. Vsevolod urged "to seriously compare all scientists' divergent positions" on the question.

Besides, the Moscow Patriarchate official believes it necessary to compare "results of the investigation held under Kolchak to the current investigation and still the most important is to name those who are guilty."

From Today's Interfax/Religion, 16 June 2010
Besides, the Moscow Patriarchate official believes it necessary to compare "results of the investigation held under Kolchak to the current investigation and still the most important is to name those who are guilty."
See: Interfax-Religion

This leaves me rather perplexed: Why is it "most important" to name the guilty parties than to acknowledge the identity of the remnants and provide a proper Orthodox burial?

I thought that the remains had already been identified using DNA from the remaining Ronanovs. I don't see any reason why it is important to name the guilty parties when we all know who they were, and after 90 years they are not likely to be brought to justice. This seems like delaying tactics to me

It seems to me that Maria Vladimirovna and the church do not believe the DNA findings. And it wouldn't surprise me if those findings were wrong seeing as this whole situation looks like it is trying hard to be swept under the rug.

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__________________"Not MGM, not the press, not anyone can tell me what to do."--Ava Gardner